Mail-box



i E. T. FRY.

MAIL BOX.

APPLICATION man Auem, 1920.

1,382,419. Patented June 21,1921

UNITED STATES PA ear orrice.

ERNEST T. FRY, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR "3J0 JACOB IK. MOSES, OF

' BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

MAIL-BOX.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 21, 1921.

Application filed August 11, 1920. Serial No. 402,796.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNEST T. FRY, a citizen oi the United States, residing at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in mail receiving and delivery boxes. The purpose of the invention is suitable for apartment houses and hotels, or for outside use in rural districts, whereby the postman can, by undoing a single lock, gain access to the receiving compartment, to remove the mail, and at the same time open up a plurality of individual lock-boxes to deliver mail thereinto. When the mail receiving box is closed and locked by the postman, the individual lock-boxes are also closed by the same operation, and thereafter, the renters of the lock-boxes may gain access to the boxes by individual keys.

In the accompanying drawing, which illustrates the invention,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a mail receiving and delivery box, showing the delivery compartments in open position, one of said compartments being partly broken away; and,

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the .several compartments closed and locked.

Referring to the drawing, A represents the receiving compartment, comprising a flat box vertically arranged and having a convex top-piece 1, adapted to shed water or rain, and a letter-receiving opening 2 in said top. The compartment A may be suitably supported upon a wall, or upon a post 3, and remains in fixed position. This compartment comprises the side walls 4 and 5, and one end of the compartment is open as indlcated at 04. Delivery compartments B and B, which are alike in construction, are hinged at the rear edges of the walls 4 and 5. Each delivery compartment comprises a box-like structure, having key-controlled doors 6 on its outer side and having its inner side open, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. When the delivery compartments are swung inward against the walls 4; and 5, it will be evident that said walls will close the open sides of the delivery compartments. Shelves 7 are arranged transversely in the delivery compartments and these shelves, with the keycontralled doors, form lock-boxes for the to provide a box,

reception of mail for the various individuals holding the keys to the boxes.

Upon one of the dcliX-ery compartments, as, for instance, the compartment B, is hinged a door 8, which is adapted to close the open end a and this door is provided with a hasp 9, adapted to engage a staple 10 upon the end or" the opposite delivery compartment. Thus, by swinging the two delivery compartments to closed position against the walls a and 5 and then closing the door 8, all of the compartments will be closed and they may be locked in these positions by a suitable lock 11, the key of which is held only by the postman.

In operation, the postman unlocks the door 8 and swings the compartments B and B outwardly, thus opening all of the compartments and exposing the interiors of the individual lock boxes. The postman may then remove the outgoing maihdeposited in the compartment A, and distribute the incoming mail to the individual boxes through the inner open sides of the latter. It will be understood, of course, that the names of the individuals holding keys to the lock-boxes will be placed at the inner edges of the shelves. where they may be seen by the postman. The arrangement whereby mail may be delivered in through the open sides of the lock-boxes, instead of through slots in the doors of the boxes, as is usual, saves time and enables the postman to place thick letters and mail packages in the boxes without injury. After the outgoing mail has been removed and the incoming mail distributed, the postman swings the delivery compartments to closed position and then locks the door 8, and thus all the compartments are closed and locked.

at I claim is:

1. A mail receiving and delivery box comprising a receiving compartment having side walls and having an open end, a delivery compartment hinged to said receiving compartment and having a plurality of lock boxes, open at their inner sides and adapted to be closed by a side-wall of the receiving compartment, a door for closing the end of the receiving compartment, locking said delivery compartment and said door in closed positions.

2. A. mail receiving and delivery box comprising a receiving compartment having side of the receiving compartment and means for I walls and having an open end, tvvo delivery compartments hinged at opposite sldes oftlie receivingcompartment and having aplurality of lock-boxes, open at their inner sides and adapted to be closed by the side WELllS of the receiving compartment, a door for closing the end of the receiving competrtment, and means for locking said door and the delivery compartments in closed p0sitions. V

3. A mail receiving and delivery boX co1nprising a receiving compartment having side vells and having an open endQtwo delivery compartments hinged at OPPOSltG sides of the receiving compartment and having a plurahty of lock-boxes, open at their mner sides and adapted to be closed by the side walls,

of the receiving compartment, 3 door hinged to one of said delivery compartments and adapted to close the open end of the receiving compartment, and ineansfor locking the door to the other of said delivery compart ments In testimony whereof I :iflix my signature.

ERNEST T FRY. 

